In Which the Planet Tilts to Winter

My trike, briefly parked at Thomas Park in Marion, Iowa, during a late November ride along the Boyson Trail, parts of which were recently paved.

The sun never gets super high at this time of year, but still looks pretty in the afternoon, seen on November trike ride to Cedar Lake.

Late afternoon sun at Lowe Park in Marion, Iowa. seen in November.

Well, it’s been quite some time, biking blog pals. I’ve been fine, but what with one thing and another, I have not been writing a lot here lately.

I place the bulk of the blame on my own aging memory but I’m willing to share some resposibility with the TSA and modern air travel. For three weeks at the start of October, I was off my trike and my bikes due to a pleasant journey.

My wife and I drove up to the Twin Cities to visit our oldest daughter who lives in a suburb of Saint Paul with her family. Then, we flew out from Minneapolis to visit our oldest son and his family in San Francisco.

We had packed our laptop computer, since I was planning to possibly use it to process images. But it would have been a pain to take it on a flight, so we left it in a suitcase in a closet in the basement of a house in Mahtomedi, Minnesota. Where, when we returned from San Francisco to visit for a few more days and then drive home to Iowa, we left it.

Shucks. It was inevitable this blog would be on hiatus for some time as I spent a fortnight and another week moving across the planet via planes, cars and feet. But that hiatus was extended by the delay getting our laptop back—the laptop is what I use to both edit images and write blog posts.

Long aside, I know, but after the voyage I spend the waning days of October and the whole month of November rolling across the planet, usually on three wheels and sometimes on two.

November, from a trike or bike riding point of view, was a decent month—it was warm and dry for late fall, with some frosty mornings and blustery, chilly days to remind me I live in Iowa. The world was much greener and pleasant than it usually is in the 11th month in this part of the Northern Hemisphere.

This and next images, me during unusually warm November trike rides. It's Nov. 22 in this image and I don't have a coat on.

Stopping by Oakshade Cemetery, were my parents rest, on Dia de los Muertos, Nov. 2.

I guess cemeteries were a theme. Riding my trike through Mt. Calvary Cemetery, where I visit the Sisters of Mercy who rest there. I taught at Mount Mercy University, founded by the sisters, before I retired to ride my tricycle.

Final selfie of this post. Nov. 13 ride takes me by Cedar Lake.

And then came the week of Thanksgiving.

The cool, sunny days turned colder. And then it suddenly got very cold. On the Saturday after turkey day, the winter weather switch was fully engaged—11 inches of dense, heavy snow carpeted my world.

That was Nov. 30, and it was Dec. 5 before I rode my first post-storm ride—and that was a short jaunt on the Fancy Beast so I had a mountain bike to cross snow or ice. I needed the wide tyres of that bike, and indeed walked about a mile of a 7-mile journey to get past the C Avenue sidewalk, which is both the most heavily traveled pedestrian route in my neighborhood and the one least well cleared.

The Fancy Beast, paused on C Avenue Dec. 5. I'm returning home from Lindale Trail and have dismounted to walk across the most ice and snow covered section of the sidewalk.

Lindale Trail on Dec. 5 ride--the trail, in both Cedar Rapids and Marion, is much clearer, although a bit of snow here and there means I'm not unhappy to be riding my mountain bike.

My November rides featured one 35-mile jaunt south to the nearby town of Ely and back along the Cedar River Trail. On that ride, I was interested in seeing progress being made on a new pedestrian-biking bridge that is under construction across the Cedar River between the New Bo neighborhood and Mount Trashmore.

It will be Eastern Iowa’s answer to the High Trestle Trail Bridge, I suppose. Not much of an answer because I’m sure the HTT will still be much grander and where all the cool Iowa bikers gather. Still, it will be very nice to have this new bridge crossing our largest local river in a couple of years.

Many deer seen on November trike and bike rides.

The new bridge being built between Czech Village and New Bo over the Cedar River. The bridge uses the old foundations of a closed railroad bridge. The project will soon close this segment of the Cedar River Trail, and I hope they create a bypass or detour and don't just close one of the busies bike trails in town.

Snake on a trail--seen on Cedar River Trail south of the river.

The weather in the world here at the start of November looked more like September, but by month’s end, even before the winter snow arrived, most trees had become bare and the world started to take on a bit more of its brown, sleepy winter hues. It was surprising this year how many bugs persisted into late November this year, but they aren’t persisting now.

Saturday, Dec. 6, another snowstorm was here. It was colder too, so I didn’t try to ride in the morning before the late afternoon snow blew in. Sunday, I spent my outdoor time clearing snow and filling bird feeders. I’m pretty sure the roads won’t be ready for a ride Monday (I drafted this post before Monday but posted after, and yes, roads weren't ride ready Monday). It will take some time for pavement to be clear enough to be passable.

There aren’t any days in the 10-day weather forecast that look warm enough for getting my as yet unnamed tricycle, or even my mountain bike, out for a ride.

Whatever. I’ll be happy to squeeze in any miles I can this December, as weather allows. In October, I rode 97.44 miles, not many even by my low standards, yet not all that bad since three weeks of the month were spent away from my trike and bikes. In November, I rolled for 262.78 miles. My total so far this year is 1,776.22 miles. I am pretty sure that I won’t make it to 2,000 miles in 2025, but with luck should top that in 2026!

In Which A New Bridge Opens

Aug. 12--Bike parked by new bridge near Cedar Lake.

When did the new bike trail bridge over the creek that feeds Cedar Lake open?

I don’t know for sure, but the detour on the Cedar River Trail north of the lake has changed—coming from the lake, the route now goes down a road to a new street bridge that crosses the trail. I was taking the trail north at that point (I had ridden down to the lake via H Avenue), and before crossing the new street bridge, I turned right and crossed the new bike trail bridge over the creek.

It’s very nice, a foreshadowing of the new trails near Cedar Lake that aren’t open yet but are being constructed. I crossed the bridge on one of the longer rides of summer 2025—a 17-mile ramble that took me to the Mount Mercy University campus before I continued to Cedar Lake.

A bunch of images from Aug. 12 ride. As I rest at Cedar Lake mid-ride, I watch a Stork that was fishing in the lake.

Monarch butterfly on Thistle flower near Cedar Lake.

Aster, fall flower, on Mount Mercy University campus.

Pausing on MMU campus.

Cone Flower in garden near Basile Hall on MMU campus.

For various reasons, summer 2025, the first summer of my retirement, has not featured the usual summer distances of bike riding. I didn’t, for example, participate in RAGBRAI this year. I had a heart bypass operation in January and a follow-up procedure in July.

In August, four grandchildren from Minnesota were visiting for a week. That precluded any long bike rides that week for me—but the good news is that one of my bikes has a Tag-A-Long seat, and a 7-year-old grandson was very happy to put it to use. Sadly, other events and very hot afternoons constrained those rides a bit, but nonetheless, most days that week we headed out for at least a few very pleasant miles together.

July 26--Deer on Lindale Trail are pretty socialized to bikers. Fawn lets me get pretty close to make this image.

Bike on Lindale Trail July 26. Note milky sky, it's been a wet summer but also a hazy one; sometimes the haze, from Canadian forest fires, has limited biking.

Anyway, back to my lake sojourn on Aug. 12. I missed one day riding last week due to yardwork—mowing and clearing weeds. But in the past four days of the week, I used all of my bikes.

On Aug. 12, I rode Argent, my road bike, on the longest ride—the 17-mile cycle to campus and the lake.

On Aug. 13, I rode my mountain bike, The Fancy Beast. It’s been wet lately. I planned to ride the Boyson Trail, the paved and unpaved parts, on a day that would turn too warm for this old man to ride in the afternoon. So, I went on a late morning ride, which went well, but the mountain bike trails beside the Boyson Trail looked too muddy, so I stuck to the main trail. The ride was about 8 miles, but given the heavier bike and warmer day, felt like it was as much work as the 17-mile ride the day before.

July 29--another day, another deer. I know it's farther away,but I like this image of the Lindale Trail.

Reflecting ball in Lowe Park seen on July 27 bike ride.

I skipped riding, as mentioned, for the Aug. 14 yard work day. The forecast was for hot, humid weather after this day. It was too bad to avoid riding on Aug. 14, but it was good to get the yard work done, too.

On Aug. 15, the afternoon was forecast to feel like 100 degrees, which dictated a shorter morning ride. I was going to ride part of the unpaved Boyson Trail again, but it had a bit more time to dry out and I decided that Clarence, my hybrid bike, would be a good choice. It turned out to be a 10-mile ride where I headed up behind Linn-Mar High School on the Creek Trail and road part of the Boyson Trail, too.

My biking goals have become modest in 2025. I’m accepting, for now, of shorter rides, although I’m hoping the 17-mile ride, accomplished with no problems, is a sign of longer sojourns coming as soon as the weather improves. However, I’ve already decided it’s OK to take several days to ride my birthday later this month.

I turn 67 later this month. Maybe by next year, 68 miles in a day would be a doable goal. For now, I’ll just be happy to roll 67 miles over several days and be satisfied that I can keep rolling.

As of Aug. 19, I have 851.02 miles for the year. I’ve ridden 85.46 miles in August. July’s miles totaled 112.16.

Aug. 15--I have some Goldenrod planted in my garden--it's a great late-season flower that feeds pollinators as fall is setting in. This is not in my garden, however--Goldenrod by Boyson Trail seen during bike ride.

In Which Not-RAGBRAI Part 2 Has Great Weather

Team Joe on Aug. 31 in Solon, Iowa, mid point of our longest not-RAGBRAI ride this year. My delayed twin Brigid, sister Cate, brother-in-law Eldon and me. Used my camera's timer to make image.

Many days in August, 2024, were very, very hot in Iowa. Despite actual temperatures in the 90s, there were far too many times that humidity made the heat index top 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Well, I should not complain. We’re not in Phoenix, with 100 days of 100-degree heat.

Team Joe had planned for the second half of its Not-RAGBRAI ride to take place over Labor Day Weekend. Would we be braving the hot breath of this very warm summer?

Well, the summer gods relented. The dragon of August was, apparently, ready for a rest. As our first ride on Aug. 30 neared, the weather shifted and the hot summer suddenly seemed to give way to early fall. Part of that shift from hot to cooler was morning rain on my birthday, so I drove to campus.

Which was OK, in a way, half of Team Joe was driving over from Des Moines in the afternoon, and we planned relatively quick first ride. By about 4, the sky was partly cloudy by the afternoon was cool and pretty. My sister in town rode her recumbent trike to my house where the rest of Team Joe arrived from Des Moines and got their trikes ready to ride.

In Team Joe, I’m the lone biker. Here I am, newly 66, still rolling on two wheels.

Ride one of not-RAGBRAI part two went well. We headed east on the Grant Wood Trail, circled Waldo’s Rock and headed out to the new bridge, turning around there. The Friday ride was 20.61 mile. And it was my birthday.

Aug. 30--Cloudy birthday sky on our ride--pond at Waldo's Rock Park.

The birthday snake, Waldo's Rock Park. It clearly liked the warm pavement on a cool afternoon, but was not as happy with the attention of hairless apes--it was in full threat, intimidation mode, partly muted by the fact that it was about 4 inches long.

Team Joe includes two of my sisters and a brother-in-law. My youngest sister is exactly 4 years younger than me—she was born on my fourth birthday. Following the Friday ride, as a joint birthday celebration, the team and additional family members went out to a nice dinner at a local Indian restaurant, and then had a great fruit cobbler my wife made as desert. More than 20 miles and a very fine meal—it was a good way to celebrate turning 66 (or 62, in the case of my sister).

Saturday’s ride was the longest one we planned. We rode south on the Cedar River Trail, going down to Solon and eating lunch there. The day was warmer, and we felt it. Thus on the way back to Cedar Rapids, we made the obligatory ice cream stop in Ely and then headed back to town, deciding to take an alternate route up Third Avenue rather than continuing on the bike trail. My local sister (not the delayed twin, my other biker sister) showed me a back way by Coe College that ends up at the end of the CEMAR Trail.

But as we neared the ride’s end, I faded a bit and had to rest. Getting old: I do recommend it, given the only alternative, but it has its challenges. Well, after a break, I was able to ride slowly home. A classic RAGBRAI meal, spaghetti, was the plan for the night. Saturday’s ride was 50.06 miles.

Another Team Joe image at park in Solon.

It had cooled down again Sunday. My youngest sister and brother-in-law went out to breakfast with my wife and I, and then we just relaxed for a while—the other sister was busy Sunday morning and came over in the afternoon. Our final ride was along the Boyson Trail and then out to Lowe Park. We walked around the nice garden at the Lowe Park art building, and then took a break at the playground area.

It was not our longest ride, but with the pauses in the park, it was great for a biker who carries a camera and enjoys making images:

Flowers and pretty fall sky at Lowe Park.

One bicycle, three tricycles parked at playground, Lowe Park.

Lowe Park flower.

I have not seen many Monarch butterflies this summer, so at playground in Lowe Park, it was great to see four fat cats on one Milkweed plant. They looked about ready for the transition to butterfly, and I hope they make it on the migration to Mexico and make many babies.

Four on one plant.

My wife and I had a trip to Des Moines planned for Monday, so the Sunday ride was the final one for Team Joe on our not-RAGBRAI adventure this year. We rolled 19.05 miles that day, and over the three days our rides added up to 91.72 miles. I wrote earlier about the first half of our not-RAGBRAI ride in Des Moines, and our total team distance for the two halves of the event were 143.08 miles.

I enjoyed the team rides. My individual rides since then have been very nice, too—with the beautiful weather sticking around for a while. On a recent Saturday, I had a nice morning ride out Waldo’s Rock, and then in the afternoon headed to a park on the tandem bike with an 8-year-old grandson.

Warmer weather is coming. Summer 2024 isn’t totally done with us now, although I think we could be past the most intense heat. I rode 402 miles in August. So far this year, it has been 2,265.27 miles. Images from other recent rides:

Sept. 7 solo ride to Waldo's Rock with mountain bike--riding grass trail through prairie plant area.

Sept. 7, Waldo's Rock park.

It's been weeks of pretty skies as slightly cooler weather sets in. Pretty early fall light Sept. 6 on bike ride home, corner of C Avenue and Blairs Ferry Road.

Morning of Sept. 6, C Avenue Pond seen on bike ride to work.

As I unlock bike Aug. 28 for bike ride home, I'm being inspected from not far away. The squirrels at Mount Mercy think they own the campus, except when the hawks are in the sky.

In Which Early Spring Brings More Than 30 Miles

During Feb. 25 ride, I stop to check if first flowers have bloomed at Mount Mercy University Campus. They had.

Between Ely and Cedar Rapids on Hoover Trail, resting on a bench and enjoying the woods on Feb. 25 ride.

Feb. 23--First commute to work on road bike after replacing front tyre.

Feb. 27--Bike parked at MMU Grotto. Windy afternoon, next day was the one day this week I didn't ride--below-zero wind chills in the morning.

I suppose, technically, that I own four bicycles—but one is an old tandem, used primarily for short summer rides with either my wife or a grandchild.

Grandchildren and spouses, in my corner of the world, don’t do a lot of bicycling in the chilly early spring, which is what February has turned out to be in Iowa. In a normal year, it would still be winter and I would be weeks away from writing about spring. This is not a normal year.

And that’s added up to some extra biking miles for me.

My first ride of the year of more than 30 miles was Sunday, Feb. 25. I went some distance south on the Cedar River Trail for the first time this year, rolling to Ely and then back. It was oddly warm for a February Sunday, and when I rested in a park at Ely, small spiders were skittering across the pavement. Bugs in February. It’s not Heaven, it’s Iowa, but it’s hot like Hades, at least “hot” for this time of year.

Feb. 25--Resting at mid-point of long ride in Ely. I will have to dig up sunscreen, got a mild sunburn on this ride.

Feb. 25--Sunny view of Cedar River on trail headed south, south of river. Mount Trashmore in background.

Feb. 25--Large bird of prey. I think it's a young bald eagle that hasn't grown into its adult colors yet. Although it could be a hawk. What say you, internet hive mind?

Feb. 25--Geese in Ely city park.

I didn’t have time to continue riding south to Solon for a much longer 50-mile or so ride, and I wasn’t dressed for it anyway (I need bike shorts for longer rides).

It was a pleasant ride. I took two brief rests, one in Ely and one on a bench in the woods on the way back. It was a bit breezy, but still a good day to be out. The ride totaled 32.88 miles.

It was on the road bike, which I have finally repaired. I took it to Goldfinch, because I’m too old to easily read tiny black numbers on black rubber, and no, I don’t have my bike tyre size memorized. They concurred that I needed a new front tyre, but advised the that worn back tyre is still good for a few months, although it will need to be replaced before longer summer rides.

Changing the tyre is never my favorite thing, but honestly it worked out to be easier than changing the tube on my mountain bike, which I had done a few weeks ago.

Feb. 21--Bikes in rack near Regina Hall, MMU. None mine. Seeing lots more bikes in February than is normal.

Feb. 23--My bike parked at Warde Hall, early ride after fixing road bike. Hawk feather has blown against rear wheel--there are a pair of red-tailed Hawks that nest on Warde Hall, I assume this is their greeting card.

So, recent rides have seen me taking advantage of the full trio—the long weekend ride and some commutes on Argent, my road bike. When I’m in the mood or worried about poor weather, rolling on The Fancy Beast, my mountain bike. And several routine commutes using the all-purpose pickup truck bike, my hybrid, Clarence.

I rode 224.29 miles in February and 6.94 miles on March 1, giving me 362.62 miles for the year so far—more than 10 percent of my goal in the early winter months of the year. I hope that foreshadows a good riding year. I’m not sure the year includes RAGBRAI—they have a hilly, southern route this year, which doesn’t, frankly, appeal to me much, and last year’s crowded, hot ride kind of spooked me a bit.

I may be ready for fake RAGBRAI this year, where I just try to top 300 miles during the week of the ride. We’ll see. And that way, I can ride my variety of bikes as the mood strikes me—maybe even the tandem (which has no name right now).

Feb. 25--I wondered if first flowers had bloomed, so rode to campus on my way home from Ely. Yup, early spring is official. Building in background, Warde Hall, is oldest on campus and where my office is.

In Which Summer Concludes with 40 Miles

Early in the ride, here and next 2 images--fawns and doe seen in Dry Creek from C Avenue Bridge.

“Go for a ride early before it gets too hot,” she said. Which was not a bad plan—except I did not wake up until 9 a.m. It was 11 by the time I headed out.

My goal was to ride 30 miles. But if it went well, I also thought I might ride a bit more.

I headed down to campus, intending to then take the Cedar River Trail south. I was slightly delayed—there were distracting flowers and students taking part in distracting activities, and I had my good camera with me and spent some time making images.

But I eventually made it to the trail. At Cedar Lake, I saw a heron take flight, which was fun. When I got down past the Federal Courthouse, on to the minor detour at the African-American museum, I stopped at Goldfinch Cyclery. I was riding my road bike Argent, which was recently fixed at that shop, and when I picked it up, the valves didn’t have their rubber caps—the staff member I spoke with was helpful and quickly got me two.

Heron takes off from Cedar Lake.

Here and below, I put on the new valve covers while parked outside the bike shop.

 

I kept going south, taking it easy on a hot summer afternoon—possibly the unofficial last ride of summer as fall syllabi are crying out for editing and lectures for prep. I’m not ready for it, but summer is pretty much over.

I went down to Ely and had passed 15 miles which would make for a 30 mile ride. I ate a snack at the park and then proceeded south, intending to turn around when I reach close to 20 miles to make for a 40-mile ride.

I paused to make some images of a goldfinch, which was cool to see. As I headed south, I thought I was fading a bit. So, I turned back a bit early.

South of Ely, state bird of Iowa, a goldfinch, eats thistle seeds.

I took one final break at Cedar Lake and decided to head back via the trail and Noelridge Park. Because that route is slightly longer than the route via campus, despite the early turnaround, I ended up getting 40 miles.

I have taken far fewer long rides this summer than in the past. Then again, I was not training for RAGBRAI. In a typical summer, I would do some 60-mile days and maybe even a century, so 40 miles is not all that much.

But I got in 40 miles on a warm day when I didn’t even hit the road until 11 a.m., and I rode 10 miles beyond my original goal. All in all, a good day, a good way to celebrate summer’s end.

Lots of images, because, hey, let’s picture summer:

Brief stop at MMU campus. Bikes start to show up in bike racks. Early students arriving.

Heron at Cedar Lake.

South end of town--heart signs start to appear.

Sign near Ely.

Eating snack at Ely Park. Reflections of trail traffic in pond.

Bikers reflected in pond.

Dragonfly on patrol at Ely pond.

South of Ely, swallowtail butterfly.

Yard decoration near south end of Ely.

Tin Man and Witch near ice cream shop in Ely.

Two from Oz in Ely.

Oz never gave nothing this guy that he didn't already have.

A classic vehicle. And a truck. Near Oz figures in Ely.

Wicked Witch of Ely.

She has the red shoes on.

New mural near biker bar (bicycle style biker bar) just north of the river.

Detail of mural.

Near African-American museum, new mural under a bridge, detail.

Another part of mural.

More in mural.

Bike in sand my river.

Sky early in ride--clouds. But it cleared off, got sunny and hot.

My bike parked near library at MMU campus.

One reason some redundant images--these final ones are from a different camera. Mural by bar.

Figure in mural under bridge.

Final look at mural.